Beyond the Uniform
by Alphecca
Summary: Sam realizes there's more to her job than her rank through the misery of a friend. Moderately crappy summary, the story is, hopefully :, better : Set during season 8. This story will not be completed beyond this point well, maybe someday
1. Mission reports and invitations

Disclamimer: I still don't own anything but I'll tell you when I do :) Not making no money out of this which means I should really get to work and quit writing "nonsense"... NEVER! I need my Stargate!  
  
Ok...I've taken my pills, I'm calmer now. So, I started writing this because I'm tired of people who have Sam get preggers as a way to get her with O'Neill and I'm also tired of SG-1 hurtfics. There's another solution and I think I may have found it (Ain't I brilliant? Huh? ) I'm also looking for a beta reader, 'cause in case you couldn't tell, this is gonna be an S/J fic and I'm sorta bad at writing feelings and fluffy stuff (tho I love fluffy goodness! Wee!) so a few pointers and hard nudges in the right direction would be mightily appreciated. I don't wanna get corny or anything. I hate corn. It gets stuck in my braces.  
  
Sam sighed in relief and stretched, her arms lifting as high as they could go as the printer went off, spitting the several pages of her latest mission report. She smiled and scratched her belly. She'd finished in good time, now she had just the time to go pick up Daniel and Teal'c's notes on the mission and she could hand the full report to the General and be done for the week. Then she would maybe put in a few hours working with Siler on her bike and then maybe some gym time before heading home. She turned off her computer after the last page had shot out of the printer, she chuckled. She had "fixed" the printer on one of those occasions were Jack had invited her to go fishing; it gave her an excuse for not going. She hadn't planned for it to spit out paper across the room but now she found it amusing most of the time.  
  
She didn't bother to knock on the door when she arrived at Daniel's lab. She knew he'd still be typing his work, wondering how many pictures of ruins he should fit into the folder and which ones would be the most interesting ones for the military types. As usual, he would be having a hard time deciding, from his point of view they were all fascinating but he knew Jack wouldn't see it his way. She cleared her throat, causing him to startle and drop some of his pictures on the floor. He smiled embarrassedly at his CO and quickly picked up the fallen photos and handed her a stack of the chosen ones, saving the rest for the more in depth archives.  
  
"Though choice?" She asked him playfully while punching holes on the printed photos and placing them in the folder.  
  
"Not really actually. I mean, they're all interesting but in the end, they're mostly pictures of the same thing considering how eroded the ruins were. Did you get Teal'c's report?" Just as he finished asking the question, the big Jaffa came striding purposefully into the archeologist's lab and handed Carter a neat though thin stack of paper. She eyed it quickly, short and to the point of course, like everything Teal'c did.  
  
"Thank you Teal'c. Listen, are you guys doing something tonight? I was thinking we could go out, have dinner together then maybe go watch a movie." Carter surprised herself by saying as she had already though of working and working out. Daniel and Teal'c assured her they didn't have plans and agreed to meet at O'Malley's.  
  
She thought about it as she walked down to level 27, she was feeling tired of being underground, she realized. She had been going out more often since she'd met Pete and since had actually been going home at night more often too.  
  
"So this must be what it's like to have a life…" She thought, repressing a chuckle.  
  
Carter walked down to General O'Neill's office to deposit the mission report directly to him like he had asked her to do for all SG-1 missions. Along with it was a personal report, entirely off the record, that summarized the mission in a more team oriented manner. She had started doing that for him early on and he had really appreciated it. He liked to know the funny and light side of the missions, the banter between team members and what they really though about the inhabitants that wouldn't be added in an official report. She knew it made him feel more like he was still part of the team even though he wasn't out there with them, getting in trouble and kicking Goa'uld butt. She respectfully knocked on the open door and smiled as Jack looked up from a piece of paper.  
  
"For crying out loud Carter! How many times have I told you that you can just barge in here whenever you want when that door is open?"  
  
She smiled and looked at the floor in that incredibly adorable way of hers that just maybe Jack want to make her do it again over and over though she didn't know it's effect on the male personnel of the base. He saw the folder in her hands as well as the loose pages that would be her highly anticipated personal account of the mission. She stood at attention in front of his desk.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't want to disturb you, sir. I've brought you my report, on time, sir, as you requested it. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"  
  
"You can shut up, airman!" He glared at her as she broke into a wide grin, her blue eyes twinkling in amusement, "Now, didn't I tell you I didn't want to have to tell you this again? At ease, Colonel."  
  
Sam grinned even wider and dropped her report rather unceremoniously on the general's desk. He picked it up and grinned back at her as he put aside the paper he had been reading previously and grabbed the loose pages. He started to read, smiling here and there at what she had written. It hadn't been a particularly interesting mission although when you have saved Earth and many other planets from sure destruction, it might be normal to find an average recon mission boring. Sam sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk as he read and looked at him. She felt a rush of affection for the sometimes gruff man sitting in front of her. She could see that although he did his best to look in good spirit, he was restless at having to do all this administrative work by the way his legs didn't seem to want to stand still. Jack was a man of action and although he obviously loved his new job, he terribly missed the nights on the hard ground around a campfire, keeping watch for hostiles. She wished she could just walk up behind him and rub his tense shoulders, feel him relax in her hands like she had on several occasions offworld.  
  
"Anyway,sir. Teal'c, Daniel and me were going to have dinner at O'Malley's and go see a movie tonight. Want to join us?" She invited after realizing he had been staring back at her for a little while, a twinkle in his eyes as he noticed her staring at him.  
  
"It's "and I", Carter. Grammar!" She rolled her eyes at his correction but simple gave him a 'yes, sir'. "Yeah, sure, I'll join you. That is, if you don't mind going out with your boss, of course."  
  
"That was never a problem, sir. In fact I credit my rapid promotion to Colonel under your command to my ability to make my superior adore me." She gave him a cheeky grin and batted her eyelashes shamelessly; imitating one of the nurses who used every chance she had to flirt with the senior officers.  
  
"Ah! That's tricky Carter. And there I was thinking you invited me because you find me irresistibly charming and great company…" 


	2. Retirement and Gelatin

Thanks for the nice reviews :) I'm mostly writing this for myself but I'm glad you've enjoyed it :) I'm taking it slowly, that's why the chapters are so short. Oh yeah! I hope you have a strong stomach for the next chapter, Shanahan's in it ;D.  
  
They were still enjoying their big, juicy steaks when the conversation turned to work again. General O'Neill was making them all laugh with anecdotes from his side of the brass, complaining often of how boring being The Man was. Of course, following the agreed upon script, Daniel asked why he didn't simply quit which allowed O'Neill to go on and on about how he couldn't let them all fall under the hand of some loser, N.I.D corrupted, Pentagon Bureaucrat.  
  
"I used to work at the Pentagon, sir." Sam pointed out.  
  
"Ok, so their IQ dropped 120 points when you left, not to mention their sex appeal," he winked good-naturedly at her, " that's not the point. Besides, Daniel, now that I know what's out there I don't think I could stay away long. Life would get even more boring than it already is."  
  
"Yeah, not to mention it is only so long you can keep fishing in a fishless pond until it becomes unbearable."  
  
The foursome laughed (or in Teal'c's case, smiled) as they all knew perfectly well that Jack's "lake in Minnesota where the bass grew this big" was a miserable pond with no life whatsoever in it. Even frogs avoided it. Although Sam had never been there yet, Teal'c and Daniel had thoroughly briefed her on the subject, to Jack's endless chagrin. Jack glared at Daniel.  
  
"Actually, I feel responsible towards the universe for putting an armed archeologist on the loose while he was looking for revenge…"  
  
"Could you not keep working for the SGC in another capacity should you decide to leave the Air Force?" asked Teal'c in his deep voice over the laughter of Sam and Daniel and conversations from the other tables deviating from the usual line of topics.  
  
"And do what ol' buddy?" Teal'c shrugged with one shoulder, realizing that all O'Neill could do well enough to be in the SGC was being an officer and even that was questioned by some of the newer personnel who hadn't had time to become well acquainted with O'Neill's own brand of brilliance.  
  
"It's not like I'm a brilliant, although outcast archeologist or the leading expert in wormhole theory." Jack added with a grin, not the least bit bitter that he wasn't anything else than what he looked. Sam and Daniel grinned while Teal'c motioned for a waiter.  
  
"I believe we should order our desserts now, so they will get to us soon after we are done with the main course." He offered as an explanation. They agreed, when Teal'c asked for dessert, the order always came after a long time. The waiter reached their table, sticking on an ingratiating but very fake smile. He knew it was Teal'c's turn to pay and he had been working here long enough to know the tall, black man never tipped.  
  
"What may I do for you, sir?" He asked respectfully nonetheless.  
  
"I wish to order some blue jello, to be served immediately after we are finished eating these steaks, or I shall have to dismember you." The team laughed as well as the people on the next table who had heard the Jaffa.  
  
"Blue jello? Sir?" the waiter asked, blinking quickly, that was on the kids menu.  
  
"There's an idea!" suddenly cut in O'Neill, the team thoroughly enjoying the waiter's confused look, "Blue jello for everyone? Carter? Daniel?"  
  
The two scientists nodded and the waiter rapidly noted on his pad the strange order. The cook was going to hang him by his apron. 


	3. Breaking and entering

Sam hung her leather jacket on a peg by the door and dropped her keys in a bowl nearby. She checked her answering machine and listened to three new messages, two from the SGC updating her about the newest results from some tests she and Siler were running and one from Mark asking whether she'd go to her niece's birthday. She smiled and decided that there was no need to be calling anyone at this hour.  
  
They had foregone going to the movies since "Wormhole X-treme" the movie had not come out yet and they didn't particularly care for any of the other movies that were showing. She would have liked to have gone though, for the simple camaraderie there was between the four of them. More and more these days, Jack was General O'Neill instead of the man she had slept next to for over seven years on countless planets and moons.  
  
She thought about what General O'Neill had said. It had never come up before but it was true. She couldn't keep it out of her mind now, though. She had always felt that Jack was torn between wanting to retire and enjoy life and his love of and fierce loyalty to the Stargate Program up until dinner. It was as though he had come to terms with the fact that he was devoted to the SGC and planned to see this war to the end before he allowed himself to be anything else. There was no other choice now but the SGC, no life outside of the dark and dismal underground, she reflected somewhat bitterly, just when she started to get a life outside like he had told her to do, his own sling-shot back to Cheyenne Mountain like a wormhole during a solar flare.  
  
She headed for the kitchen area for a glass of water to take to her bedroom when she noticed the light was on. She never let the lights on when she went out. Who knew when she would be returning? She worried for a second that someone had broken into her house but her logic kicked in that she had pretty much built her house's alarm system herself from scratch and some security systems the base had allowed her to have since she could have highly sensitive material in her house that should never fall into unauthorized hands.  
  
Someone with the codes to her house must have been inside which only left SG-1, people from the SGC, her neighbor and Pete. Since SG-1 had been with her tonight they were ruled out, the SGC could have but they'd have needed Jack's approval and he would have told her. That left the neighbor and Pete. Pete was in Denver tying up some loose ends. She was puzzled; Mrs. Rogers never came by her house unless Sam wasn't back for three days or called her.  
  
She wondered whether she should call Cheyenne Mountain when she heard a light tap-tap-tapping coming from the study. Whoever had come into her house was now working on one of the three computers. She was reasonably sure no one could hack into her own private, work-related files but they could try.  
  
She decided to see who was fooling around with her stuff, not too worried. She opened the door to find Pete, comfortably installed in front of the desktop computer by the door, typing. He looked up startled as she walked in. Sam was just as surprised at finding him there.  
  
"Pete? What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you for another week!"  
  
"Hello, love! Nice to know you missed me as much as I missed you. I guess I should be glad I didn't catch you coming home with company, huh?" He grinned, stood up and kissed her passionately as he reached her where she was standing, dumbfounded. "Good to know you're loyal to me." He joked as he let go of her.  
  
Sam grinned, still not having quite shaken off her surprise. She had missed Pete but not enough maybe, she thought guiltily as he enthusiastically told her about managing to get a few friends to help him so he could come home early. She loved Pete, so why the hell was she not hanging on to his every word, like she did with all the guys she had ever been in love with? Feeling very remorseful for not being paying attention as he led her to the living room, an arm around her waist, Sam kept her quiet, a slightly forced grin on her face.  
  
"I came home at 8 pm. I was actually expecting you'd be home. You didn't stay buried under that mountain until now I hope?"  
  
"The guys and I went for dinner at O'Malleys." Pete 'ahh'ed as he pulled her down on the couch next to him and started to tenderly caress her neck and shoulders, Sam chuckled, "I missed you detective."  
  
"That's good to hear, ma'am. Saves me being jealous and running background checks on the males of your entourage." She smiled as Pete started to nibble on her earlobe. She shut up her mind which was still going over the discussion at the restaurant and the man that had been sitting in front of her winking at her as he praised her appearance as her fiancé slipped his hands under her top. 


	4. Elevators and humming

Hello again everyone :) I liked your reactions to Pete :D Just what I wanted.  
  
Galaxy: Hehe...relax, I'm a shipper too. But we have to deal with Pete at some point.  
  
The next chapters will be slower to come. Firstly, because of writer's block, secondly because I'm damn lazy ;) and last because I'm rethinking how I wanted this to happen since I reread the frat regs. I'm tweaking the story a little.  
  
Sam hummed as the elevator went down into the heart of Cheyenne Mountain. It's was early morning but she was in high spirits, having a live boyfriend did that to her. The elevator stopped at the commissary level and the doors opened. General O'Neill was rushing towards the open elevator doors, a mug of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other, seemingly running away from his aide under the amused looks from the SGC personnel. Jack made it into the door, pushing aside the airman who had been waiting for it and the doors closed behind him, right on the face of a panicked aide.  
  
"Woof!"  
  
"Woof, sir?" Sam grinned at her CO and long-time friend. Jack grinned back when he saw who was in the elevator with him and realized he'd been quoting Urgo.  
  
"Good morning, Colonel. How's everything going?"  
  
"Fine, sir. Hum worthy." That had become their little morning greeting since he had first used it.  
  
"Ah! Pete ok?"  
  
"Yes, sir. Kerry?"  
  
"Uh huh." Jack nodded and stared at the lift doors. This was where the conversations in the lift usually stopped. They were both uncomfortable the moment they started talking about their respective partners, both knowing feelings the other harbored that could get them both court-martialed.  
  
"It still doesn't get any more comfortable, huh?" He asked wryly.  
  
"Nope."  
  
Carter did admit to herself that she despised Kerry, although she would never confess it to anyone else short of a Za'tarc tester. To be fair, the woman was likeable and General O'Neill and her had really hit it off. But it stung. Sam berated herself for feeling betrayed, she had no right to feel that way, if at all she ought to be happy he had found someone like he had been when she'd found Pete. Her continued feelings for her CO were unfair to his present happiness and to Pete, who was devoted to her.  
  
"Lots of new little gizmos to tinker with, colonel?"  
  
"None actually, sir. I was hoping to finish those tests on the degeneration ratio of naquadria with Siler but that's a bit of a long shot. It's too unstable for us to create a useful model to predict the changes in the hyperdrive of the X-302s or Prometheus."  
  
The doors opened on level 27 and both Jack and Sam walked out and headed in the direction of the briefing room and Jack's office, Jack's eyes a little glazed over. They managed to make some more small talk before Jack reached his office and heard the phone ringing. The General cursed and hurried into the room under Sam's amused look. It was a good thing people around the SGC were used to the General's ways or his conduct could have been accused of being less than professional.  
  
She peered inside the office, a smile on her face, and mouthed "See you later, sir" to Jack who was already arguing on the phone. He nodded at her and she closed the door as she left.  
  
Sam chuckled and pulled up her sleeves as she made her way down the metal staircase in the briefing room to the control room on level 28. Siler spotted her, came up and gave her a notepad with a long list of numbers. She took the technician's seat and started running simulations on the gate. Siler and her were comfortable working together and needed no words. 


	5. Bumps and new wrinkles

Ok, short! very short! But don't worry, the next part is practically written and should be up maybe in 2 or 3 days. Depends, since I have University admission exams to take. 

Good news though. I know how I'm getting them together (you know who I mean ;) ) in a way that satisfies me and is hopefully realistic. So you military types are welcome to flame me afterwards if I'm wrong. I'll just keep an extinguisher nearby.

Also, I got to see Douglas Arthur (Heru'ur) and Peter Williams (Apophis) up close! Weeee! Zey are soooooo hunky!!! I got to chat a little wit 'em on me own! 'Cos zis was a very tiny little con. . WOOHOO! They are BABES!

okay...breathe in, breathe out I feel better...

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Sam passed Siler one of the meters as they worked in the specially isolated room where they kept the Naquadria. They had been joined by a few other scientists, both civilian and military. She had personally asked Lt. Jennifer Hailey to join her. The young woman had some very good ideas and a revolutionary way of seeing things, and now that the young officer didn't feel threatened by Samantha anymore, she was also fast becoming a good friend.

Every now and then someone would break the quiet they all worked in to share some gossip or an idea. Sam found it relaxing to be with like-minded people, having intelligent conversations. Only the most brilliant minds were assigned to the SGC and she felt elated to be considered one of the numbers.

She stepped aside and let Hailey work on her station while she went to check some of her results against some previous ones. It was tedious work calculating the differences in the results and extrapolating what she needed to know to form a working model, even if it wasn't a very reliable one. She learnt more and more about physics every time though and for Sam Carter that amounted to a whole lot of fun.

She was about to turn back towards the isolated Naquadria when she saw out of the corner of her eye Captain Lucy Harvey quite obviously bump into Hailey, pushing her to the side and causing her to drop a rather expensive piece of equipment.

"Argh!" Exclaimed Hailey in pain as the heavy thing rebounded on her toe before falling on the floor. Sam decided to interfere before the 4'9 fighting machine had time to break a superior officer's nose.

"Captain, I want to see you in my office." The woman had the grace to look somewhat abashed but ruined it by giving Hailey a smug, pleased look that Sam didn't miss. Captain Harvey removed her lab coat and exited the room, heading for the office Sam hardly ever used.

"What was that about?" She said as she turned back towards Jennifer, she was bent over picking up the dropped apparatus. Hailey glanced up towards her and Carter was surprised to see worry in the young officer's eyes. This more than anything told Sam that there might be more to the Captain's actions than a petty matter of dislike as she had first thought. Jennifer Hailey was an incredibly confident and sure of herself young woman, not the kind that lets a superior officer's pushiness affect her. Hailey shook her head and didn't answer.

Well, there was a captain in her office in need of a reprimand. Carter had just removed her own lab coat and hung it on the peg by the door labeled "Carter, S." when the phone rang.

"Carter." She answered, picking up the receiver, "Yes, sir…yes, sir…I'll send her right over, sir." She hung up, the other scientists in the room except Hailey were still hard at work, knowing better than to eavesdrop. "Lieutenant Hailey, General O'Neill wants to see you in his office." She gave Hailey a questioning look but the tiny woman's face had gone a perfect USAF blank, she took a deep breath and left the room.

Sam called a break and headed for the commissary level, annoyed because she knew she couldn't follow Hailey, no matter how curious she was about what kind of trouble her protégée had gotten herself into now. She would personally skin the girl if she was in deep shit. Sam Carter had taken too much of an interest in the girl's career for it to be thrown out the window…or the gate…whatever! She glared at her cup of blue jello, which lay forgotten on the table right in front of her.

"Whatever did that poor jello do to you?' interrupted the amused voice of Dr. Daniel Jackson as he straddled the chair in front of her, a mug of coffee in his hand. "Trouble, huh?"

"Uh? What?"

"You're giving it the death glare," he grinned at her semi-annoyed look, "What's up?"

"Hailey… General O'Neill called the lab. Asked me to send her over."

"So I heard. It's all over the place, obviously. So, he called and you just assumed it had to be trouble?" He gave her a diluted version of his "how do you always come up with the worst case scenario" look, which he usually reserved for Jack when he was being particularly military.

"Well, my first clue was that he didn't tell me what he wanted to see her about. He actually sounded like a general."

"Wow, that's bizarre."

"Tell me about it."


	6. Lunch and Confessions

Well, I took longer to upload this chapter than the previous ones. I had lost the notepad were I write my fics when I'm in class (apparently it's the only place my muse will agree to meet me. She's weird that way.) It's not very long but you're probably used to that by now :D I've already got the next chapter or two written (Jack will be back into the story) but I'm gonna take a break because my hand is getting numb from typing so fast and so long. I had to come up with a name for Satterfield. If we ever get a canon version I'll change it. 

If anyone reading this is also reading my fic "Mission to XXX-069" (Darn I hate that title but I couldn't come up with anything else), I do intend to finish it but right now I'm stuck. Coming up with dirty jokes is a lot harder than I thought. You're welcome to help :) My e-mail is in my profile.

As usual, I don't anything but the plot idea and even that is doubtful in any case, don't sue me. I'm saving my cash so I can get to Gatecon next year so you'll be getting my money anyway. On that note, on to the fic :)

* * *

Wait! WooHoo! This is officially, the longest fic I've ever written! So leave feedback as a congratulation. Good or bad, I like em both. In fact I like the bad better because it's more constructive :) No pointless flames tho.

starts serving champagne, or apple juice for the kiddies

* * *

They both chuckled but Daniel had to concede that point to Sam. Jack usually told his team more than he was really supposed to. He had pretty much kept Sam as a second-in-command, even if it was unofficial, the SGC personnel had learnt to see it that way and react accordingly. It sometimes incensed the more senior officers that Sam Carter was regarded so when she was junior to them but as she was one of the most experienced officers they'd had to learnt to seethe in silence.

"Well, it's got to be trouble because I heard Major Cypher was called in too. And he's her team's leader." He added, deciding to let her know he knew way more than he'd let on earlier, though he suspected she expected that from him, even though he had genuinely not know it involved Hailey, " Satterfield!" He called out, sticking his arm out suddenly and waving frantically, very Daniel-like. The Asian-American girl blushed as she joined their table, sitting down next to Dr. Jackson, who she thought was cute.

"Ma'am." She nodded politely in Sam's direction. She dug into her food somewhat meekly. Daniel looked at Sam in the eye. She sighed in frustration, either one of the guys, Teal'c included, seemed to like giving her the tough talks and explanations. They both turned to the young lieutenant who was pointedly ignoring their insistence, and waited for her to spill the beans.

"Lisa?" Said Daniel finally, unable to restrain his curiosity and seeing that Sam was playing his game, "You know something."

She startled at the sudden accusation, guilt written all over her face. Lisa Satterfield and Jennifer Hailey were best friends and if anyone had any clue as to what was going on, it was her. Something bad enough that she was summoned to the General's office along with her CO was going on and Sam wanted to be ready to woo Jack into dropping it, if she had to. She wasn't beyond using her feminine wiles to get Hailey off the hook. Which wouldn't prevent the little woman from being skinned alive, dunked in very salty water while tied up under a faucet slowly leaking water on her forehead before being sent to Hadante or the burning remains of Ne'tu. Whichever one was closer.

"What about Dr. Jackson? I like to think I know a lot of things for someone my age," Oh, she was stalling was she? Well, if she wanted to play dumb, she'd better be warned that Colonel Carter had a lot of experience dealing with smart people playing dumb. She'd spent over seven years perfecting her technique.

"About why Lieutenant Hailey is facing a court-martial, lieutenant." Sam bet big, hoping she was truly bluffing like she thought. Daniel gasped; obviously he didn't play poker with the guys.

Satterfield paled and swallowed difficultly. "I…I don't know anything about that ma'am." Oh, oh! Satterfield had not denied the court-martial claim. That could not be good. I better add quartering and a visit to Ba'al to my list of things to do to Hailey, she thought.

"You wouldn't be lying to a superior officer now, lieutenant?" it was a dastardly thing to do, using her rank to force to tell something she thought would betray her best friends' trust, at the SGC, trust and loyalty in your team was practically the strongest instinct. Next to an irrepressible urge to kick Goa'uld butt. But worse things had been done for worse reason than Sam's need to know what was happening to her little 4"9 fighting machine. She shuddered at the thought of having to defend Hailey in front of a military court.

"I swear there wasn't any improper conduct, at all! They were both very professional. I would have said something otherwise." Satterfield seemed to be going into panicky mode, just then Teal'c came up to the table, a platter filled with more food than Sam or Daniel could eat combined. He was about to say something when he sensed the mood at the table. Wise as he was, he sat down in silence, asking Daniel, with one of his many eyebrow-raised facial expressions, what was going on. The expression in Daniel's eyes told him enough, SG-1 had perfected the art of telepathy. "You know Hailey, ma'am. You known her conduct was flawless." She appealed to Carter.

"Satterfield, calm down and start from the beginning." She said calmly to the girl from across the table. Daniel put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and even Teal'c reached out and squeezed her hand. He had trained Satterfield and felt like those particular cadets had been like his own son Rya'c.

The lieutenant swallowed again and nodded, staring at her plate. "Well, it wasn't intentional, of course, but you know how it is when you go offworld every week or two and half of the time, wether you live or die depends on how good your team is and how much you can trust each other to watch your six." Carter nodded, it was something SG teams were very familiar with, which made it all the worse when a member of a team died. The remaining members felt it was their fault for not living up to the deal. "Well, they just couldn't help falling in love…"

"Whoa! Slow down there for a second Lisa. Who fell in love?" Daniel asked. His eyes wide as saucers.

"Hailey and Captain Wong." She looked away from them for a second, her cheeks a bright red. There, she had said out loud and betrayed her friend's confidence. "I just…couldn't bring myself to tell anybody. I swear they were always professional. Someone must have found out and sold them out. Otherwise, no one would ever have known they were seeing each other. I'll swear that in front of any court."

"Well, I have one angry and impossibly self-satisfied Captain Harvey cooling off in my office."

"Harvey?" She realized she had interrupted a colonel, "Sorry, ma'am."

"Please go on, Lieutenant Satterfield," urged Teal'c with his most soothing tone. She seemed to take some strength from the huge man's presence.

"It's no secret Captain Harvey was interested in Captain Wong, ma'am, and since they are the same rank and she's more NORAD than SGC anyway…well…she expected it to work out otherwise."

"So she complained to General O'Neill out of spite." Teal'c finished. He seemed to have lost his appetite at the thought of such pettiness within the SGC. "Captain Harvey compromised Lieutenant Hailey's very promising career out of mere jealousy." He looked utterly disgusted at the thought. Carter wondered whether on Chulak they might have some kind of honorable ritual to resolve such matters. "Colonel Carter, are well?"

So he had noticed she was a bit pale, Hailey was in big trouble and the worse thing was it made her much too aware of how close she was of being in that same sticky situation. That nothing had developed from her and Jack's feelings romantically wise, she knew the NID had enough material to at least warrant an investigation and obviously, there would be people at the SGC low enough to be "witnesses" against them. And yet, she couldn't feel as angry with Hailey as she had previously, she could only feel sorry for the girl. She knew from experience what it was like to have feelings for a superior officer, have them returned and not being able to go through with them. At least she'd had more experience in life than the young girl; she'd been out there where the action is right here on Earth before going out to other planets.

"Sam?" She hadn't answered for too long and gotten Daniel worried. Teal'c put squeezed her arm reassuringly under the table, a look of deep sympathy and understanding in his eyes. He was the only one who knew. She was pretty sure Daniel got the idea but he wasn't sure of what he saw and Sam didn't care to enlighten him or he would keep talking to her about it and try to find ways to make it, whatever "it" could be, work.

"Going to go scold Harvey for bullying and improper conduct in the lab."

She left the commissary in a hurry, her vision blurry. It was a good thing she knew these corridors better than her own house or she would have bumped into a lot of people. She felt utterly sorry and disappointed for what would happen to her favorite lieutenant.


	7. Punishment and Reproach

Whoa! It's been ages! But I promised myself I would finish this fic. I don't want ALL my fics to be WIP. Well, "Threads" certainly changes a few things so I suppose from now on this fic becomes AU… darn. I'll try to stick as close to the series as I can manage, I like my stories to not be too alternate. This means I will have to, yet again, modify how I thought of ending the story : ) 

This one is also very short, you know, for continuity ;) Don't worry, all this mess with Hailey will lead to our S/J resolution :D I hope I made Harvey properly detestable:D Alrighty then, on we go.

* * *

Sam took a deep breath before opening the door to her office. The place looked almost sterile, she didn't use it much so she hadn't decorated it with any particular care. There was one picture of SG-1 with Hammond and Janet hanging against the wall. She took some strength out of the smiling face of Janet. If the little woman had still been alive, Sam would have run to her first to ask for her advice. Janet had had a way of always asking the proper questions.

Captain Lucy Harvey was standing in front of her desk, doing her best not to look annoyed at having been made to wait do long by Colonel Carter. But Sam could see right through the façade and took some satisfaction in it. At least the woman wasn't aware yet that Hailey had been summoned to Jack O'Neill's office. She wasn't quite sure how to proceed. Obviously the woman needed to be scolded, harshly, for her behaviour, but at the same time, she couldn't let her own feelings dictated her conduct. She couldn't scold the woman because she was friends with Hailey. After all, despicable as it was, Harvey had done the right thing from a rulebook point of view.

Sam took her chair but didn't tell the junior officer to sit, she would make her stand, so she felt she was really in trouble, "I want you to explain to me what you think you were doing pushing Hailey around in my lab."

Harvey straightened and looked impossibly smug for someone who was in trouble, it made Sam want to ask to have her demoted all the way down to Airman. She thought for a moment, it was taking her too long to answer.

"Well?" asked Sam impatiently.

"I…I…" Harvey realized she couldn't come up with an excuse, "It was an innocent accident ma'am," she lied.

"An accident?" Sam stood up in front of the woman, "Tell me something Captain, do you think I'm stupid?" Harvey looked at her horrified, her eyes wide.

"No, of course not ma'am!"

"Well, it would seem you do if you expect me to believe you. I saw exactly what happened, Captain. I saw you bump, quite purposefully, into Lieutenant Hailey," she glared at the woman and let her voice rise in anger, " I also saw that smug little smile of yours! I don't give a damn about what your personal feelings for Lieutenant Hailey might be but in MY lab, you follow the rules!"

Captain Harvey's face changed color as her own anger rose, she obviously didn't care much to be disciplined, " If discipline and rules are so important to you then you might be interested to know that your precious little Jenny's been breaking the rules for month! That's right! She's been fraternizing with a superior officer. I've seen them at it, kissing and hugging and taking leave at the same time and meeting in secluded places!"

"I thought I told you. I…don't…give…a damn! That is not what is being discussed here. What is, is your behaviour in a laboratory where there is Naquadria being handled. Your petty jealousy is no excuse to put this base in danger! Your presence in my lab team is a privilege, not a right! You're in there only because I asked or you'd still be upstairs working in NORAD on technology that now seems primitive to you in the face of everything we learn everyday at the SGC. Either you follow the rules of the SGC or you transfer to another base! Your behaviour is unacceptable in both matters! And I won't have it. You are no longer a member of my science team! If anyone else wants you, fine! But you are not going to work on the Naquada/Naquadria research. Dismissed."

"What?" Harvey asked, furiously, "You're throwing ME out?" then she gritted her teeth and spit out, "How typical of this place. What else could be expected of a command run by Mr. Cosmic Giddiness and his precious blondy. You really think the world of this base don't you, Colonel? What I see is a huge mess with people disregarding half the rule book when it pleases them. How many times has General O'Neill refused to do something because he thought it was morally wrong? How many of those would have saved the world costing us a few less lives in the process? You're talking to me about rules, when all I see on this base is people breaking them! No one in here behaves professionally, they all go around making friends and promising to watch over each other…everyone knows just how close you and General O'Neill are, you practically run the base yourself! He does everything you ask!"

"I said, dismissed!" Sam angrily walked to the door and held it open for the woman, startling a passing airman who had never before seen Sam in a bad mood, "I will be speaking to General O'Neill about your conduct here." Harvey muttered something, her eyes were a little teary from anger.

Sam slammed the door closed and waited long enough to know that Harvey would have left then headed out herself. She took the elevator down to level 27 and O'Neill's office. The door was open, obviously he had finished his little meeting with Hailey and her superior officer. She peeked inside the office and saw Jack O'Neill staring off into space with a worried frown on his face. She walked into the office, 'barging in', as he had often told her to do and stood in front of his desk. He blinked and looked up when she obstructed his field of vision.

"Carter," he said, acknowledging her presence and motioned for her to take the seat in front of him. He nodded at her 'sir' reply as she took the offered chair. He remained quiet a little while then looked at her reflectively for a short moment. She wondered what was going on inside his mind. Maybe, like her, he was realizing the similarities in Hailey and Wong's case, how much it resembled their own feelings. They both knew so well the strain of burying inadequate feelings so deep that most of the time they were able to go through the day without giving it a thought and being able to accept the occasional crushes the other had for someone else while knowing the feelings were always there ready to make you want to cry at the sight of someone else happily holding on to the other's arm not worrying about rules.

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	8. Options and Decisions

Whoa! It's been a while! Sorry doesn't quite cover it does it? Years! It's been years! I was taking the admission test when I last updated and now I'm a senior and graduating in December! All I can say to those of you who have been so great as to favorite this story or put it on story alert is that I've been busy with school and writing original fiction that I hope to someday publish. But I'm back now. I still mean to finish this story.

"I take it you know about Hailey?" He said.

"Yes," she answered.

"Did you know before I was told?" He was a little tense, not trying to be curt with her but not being entirely relaxed in her presence either.

"No," she said, "I just found out a little while ago from Lieutenant Satterfield."

He sighed in relief and relaxed a bit, "Good. I was afraid you might have been, you know…"

"Helping her out?" Sam's gave him a wide-eyed stare, "Sir! I like Hailey but you of all people should know I'd be the last person to advice anyone to break _those_ rules."

They looked everyone around the office except at each other, "You're right," he said awkwardly, "sorry."

"What are you going to do?" she asked, getting up and going to close the door. She briefly wondered if anyone in the control room had heard the last thing she had said. Anyone smart enough to work at the SGC would probably assume the right things from it.

He sighed, "Frankly, Carter, I don't know yet," he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I really thought Haley of all people could keep herself from this sort of deal."

"So did I," she said, "The girl is brilliant."

"She's still young, I guess," he said, pushing a paper clip around on the surface of his desk.

"I wasn't that much older than her when I joined SG-1," she said. He looked up.

"Are you defending her or condemning her?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Both I guess," she said, "I'm disappointed mainly."

They reflected in silence for a little while, Jack playing with his paper clip and Sam looking out into the briefing room.

"We can't afford to lose Hailey," he said finally, "She's got just the right kind of brain we need here. Your kind, incidentally."

She smiled briefly, "It'd be so much simpler if Harvey hadn't been the one to talk," she said, "Someone is bound to say that Haley and Wong's relationship has damage morale. And they wouldn't be entirely wrong."

"Maybe I can send Harvey to Russia…" he mused, "Pretend she never existed…"

She chuckled. The red phone rang and Jack picked it up.

"Mr. President!" he said apparently delighted, "How are ya? How's the family?"

Sam chuckled to herself and quietly stepped out of the office to give Jack space to come to some agreement with the President. Henry Hayes was a good man, she knew although she had never talked to him herself.

She was going to go do some research. She thought she might get her team involved as well, they were both very good at coming up with solutions to unsolvable problems after all. That's why they were the best. Like General O'Neill had said, they really couldn't afford to lose Hailey. Sam wouldn't be around forever, she knew this and she had been grooming Jennifer Hailey into an adequate replacement. Her hopes were that someday, Hailey would be even better at this job than Sam herself. Wasn't that what every mentor hoped of their apprentice?

At least she had one thing on her side, the importance and uniqueness of the Stargate Program. They had always been allowed or forgiven certain things in the past that other organizations within the military would not have had permitted. She didn't take it for granted but she hoped that once again, the powers-that-be would see that losing Hailey would be worse for the SGC than allowing her to get away with only a reprimand. As for Wong, well, she didn't know him too well. She'd try to save his career as well of course but she knew that if it came down to it, she'd sacrifice him to save Hailey. It was a rotten thing to do and she'd hate it but that was the only choice for her.


End file.
